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Reads & Challenges Archive > Kim's Penguin Top 100 Challenge 2021

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message 1: by Kim (last edited Dec 16, 2021 11:58AM) (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments For 2021, I am targeting the books on the Penguin Top 100 Classic 'Must-Read' booklist that I have not yet read - this is a total of 56 books and I am aiming to complete one-third of these (19) during 2021. The link to the full list is shown below:
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...

Completed:- 17/19

Books to Read:-
Another Country by James Baldwin
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe -
- FINISHED 6/4/21 - 4* (8.5/10)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky -
- FINISHED 27/6/21 - 4* (7.5/10)
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Silas Marner by George Eliot
The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
I, Claudius by Robert Graves -
- FINISHED 2/10/21 - 3* (6/10)
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy -
- FINISHED 12/11/21 - 4* (9/10)
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Iliad by Homer
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
The Castle by Franz Kafka -
- FINISHED 23/10/21 - 3* (7/10)
Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence -
- FINISHED 13/10/21 - 3* (6.5/10)
The Call of the Wild by Jack London -
- FINISHED 13/6/21 - 4* (8.5/10)
Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann -
- FINISHED 25/6/21 - 4* (9/10)
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Beloved by Toni Morrison -
- FINISHED 24/7/21 - 2* (4/10)
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -
- FINISHED 30/8/21 - 4* (8.5/10)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys -
- FINISHED 21/8/21 - 4* (9/10)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Staying On by Paul Scott
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck -
- FINISHED 7/7/21 - 4* (8.5/10)
Dracula by Bram Stoker -
- FINISHED 16/12/21 - 4* (9/10)
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope -
- FINISHED 17/8/21 - 4* (8.5/10)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse -
- FINISHED 8/4/21 - 3* (6.5/10)
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf -
- FINISHED 29/5/21 - 3* (7/10)
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf -
- FINISHED 20/4/21 - 3* (6/10)
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith


message 2: by Leslie (new)

Leslie | 16369 comments Nice list! I look forward to seeing which ones you read this year. Good reading to you in 2021 Kim!


message 3: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Thanks Leslie! Some very tempting and also very weird books on the list!!


message 4: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finally got round to finishing my 1st of this Challenge with:-

What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe What a Carve Up! (The Winshaw Legacy, #1) by Jonathan Coe

Rated this one as 4* (8.5/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 5: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 2nd of my personal Challenge with:-

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse The Code of the Woosters (Jeeves, #7) by P.G. Wodehouse

Funny in places but a bit dated now. Rated this one as 3* (6.5/10).
My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 6: by Leslie (new)

Leslie | 16369 comments Sorry to hear that Wodehouse's humor didn't appeal that much to you - I find that book hilarious but humor is very individual...


message 7: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 3rd of my Personal Challenge with:-

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

My first of three Virginia Woolf reads for this Challenge. Rated this one as 3* (6/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 8: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 4th of this Challenge with:-

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Enjoyed this one a bit more than 'Mrs Dalloway' - rated it 3* (7/10).


message 9: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 5th of this Challenge with:-

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Rated this one as 4* (8.5/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 10: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 6th and 7th of this Challenge this week with:-

Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann Buddenbrooks The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann - rated this one as 4* (9/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - rated this one as 4* (7.5/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 11: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 8th of this Personal Challenge with:-

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

Rated this one as 4* (8.5/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 12: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 9th of this Personal Challenge with:-

Beloved by Toni Morrison Beloved by Toni Morrison

Not for me, this one! Rated it 2* (4/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 13: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 10th of this Personal Challenge with:-

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Quite enjoyed this one - very 'Dickensian'! Rated it 4* (8.5/10).
My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 14: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 11th of this Challenge with:-

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Rated this one as 4* (9/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 15: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Completed my 12th of this Challenge with:-

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Rated this one as 4* (8.5/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 16: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14425 comments Mod
Kim wrote: "Finished my 10th of this Personal Challenge with:-

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope"


One of the best of these novels on Barchester, don't you think?


message 17: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 13th of this Challenge with:-

I, Claudius by Robert Graves I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Rated this one as 3* 6/10).


message 18: by Kim (last edited Oct 04, 2021 07:35AM) (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments LauraT wrote: "Kim wrote: "Finished my 10th of this Personal Challenge with:-

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope"

One of the best of thes..."


Hard to say, Laura, as I've not read any of the others yet! Certainly would appear to be from its popularity but I'll reserve judgment until I've read some more of the series.


message 19: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 14th of this Challenge yesterday with:-

Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence

Rated this one as 3* (6.5/10).


message 20: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Completed my 15th of this Challenge with:-

The Castle by Franz Kafka The Castle by Franz Kafka

Rated this one as 3* (7/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 21: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 16th of this Challenge with:-

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

Rated this one as 4* (9/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 22: by Kim (new)

Kim (kimborams) | 522 comments Finished my 17th of this Challenge with:-

Dracula by Bram Stoker Dracula by Bram Stoker

Rated this one as 4* (9/10). My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


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